john kerry are much more focused on the fit for the state department because that is of course what he oversees on his committee. they're not as focused on that. the problem in massachusetts is that scott brown did just spend welcome to "the ed show" from new york. president obama is using every tool in the toolbox to protect the middle class. it is starting to work. this is the ed show. if we can get a few house republicans to agree as well, i'll sign this bill as soon as congress sends it my way. i've got to repeat. i have got a pen. >> a major republican says he is ready to take the president's deal on taxes. house speaker, john boehner, is not happy.

>> hell, no, you can't. >> anti-tax crusader, grover norquist attacking the wives of republican congressman? >> i hope his wife understands that commitments last a little longer than two years. >> tonight, lee saunders on the grassroots blast to pass the middle class tax cuts. >> small business owner, lou krantz, on his meeting with the president. congressman, steve israel, on the democratic momentum on the fiscal cliff. plus. >> karen finney on the new bizarre attack on ambassador, susan rice. >> all of the sudden, we are the bell of the ball. we are here to say, it's time to start to dance. latino voters help put president obama over the top. now, the hispanic caucus says they want action. representative luis gutierrez joins me tonight. good to have you with us. thanks for watching. president obama is selling his economic agenda and using all the right tools.

the president was surrounded today by middle class taxpayers at the white house as he pushed for an extension of the tax cuts for income below $250,000. he was quick to highlight the break in the ranks with the republicans. >> i am glad to see, if you've been reading the papers lately, that more and more republicans in congress, seem to be agreeing with this idea that we should have a balanced approach. so if both parties agree we should not raise taxes on middle class families, let's begin our work with where we agree. >> president obama isn't talking about some moderate republican or some blue dog democrat, he is talking about conservative republican oklahoma congressman, tom cole. cole is the first republican to openly call for agreeing to middle class tax cuts. >> we all agree that we are not going to raise taxes on people that make less than $250,000. we should just take them out of this discussion right now. continue to fight against any rate increases, continue to try to work honestly for a much bigger deal.

>> democratic senator, patty murray, jumped on the tom cole bandwagon on msnbc. >> i really respect representative cole for saying the obvious. there is no need to hold 98% of our middle class families and 97% of our small businesses hostage just in order to protect the wealthiest americans. >> later, congressman cole explained the logic of his position to chris matthews this ink. >> what i think a lot of people forget is look, these tax rates are going up automatically unless congress act. i favor acting to save as many of them as possible. >> this is what i have been saying for weeks. the president is giving the republicans a hell of a deal. they are going to be able to go home to their constituents and say, i didn't raise your taxes. 98% of you, everything is just fine. house speaker, john boehner, he doesn't know how to handle this. he was forced to respond and wasn't quite sure what to say. >> i told tom earlier in our conference meeting that i disagreed with him.

he is a wonderful friend of mine and a great supporter of mine. raising taxes on the so-called top 2%, half of those taxpayers are small business owners. >> actually, congressman cole agrees with the same thing. he doesn't want to raise on the top 2%. boehner is spinning his wheels. president obama could be pushing these guys all the way until the break. he reminded the country of the stakes today. there was a sense of urgency in the president's message if we get this part of it right, a lot of the other issues surrounding deficit reduction are going to be a whole lot easier. if we get this wrong, the economy is going to go south. we don't have a lot of time here. we have a few weeks to get this thing done. we could get it done tomorrow. optimistically, i don't think we are going to get it done tomorrow. >> the white house is using all

social media resources to get the message out and put pressure on the republicans. >> today, i'm asking congress to listen to the people who sent us here to serve. i'm asking americans all across the country to make your voice heard. tell members of congress what a $2,000 tax hike would mean to you. call your members of congress, write them an e-mail, post it on their facebook walls. you can tweet it using the hash tag my 2 k, not y2 k. >> the president was laughing about you the strategy, seriously effective. the my2k was one of the top trends on twitter all day long. republicans aren't too happy. they are getting outflanked. >> if the president wants to reach an agreement, he needs to be talking with the members of his own party right here in washington trying to broker an agreement, not out there firing up crowds and giving speeches.

>> the folks on fox news were also crying about the president taking the message to the people. >> so now we are back out on the campaign trail and we are having people make twitter announcements and youtube videos about what they think about the fiscal cliff. at least that's what this administration is asking people to do to convince their members of congress to vote in a certain way. what about saving all that time and actually doing the job that we elected you to do, which is to sit in a room and get something done. >> is fox news admitting that they are just so yesteryear. get with the program. this is how people communicate. motivate, motivate, motivate. you see, bullies don't like it when you hit back. the president isn't just hitting the campaign trail for a victory lap. he is mobilizing his base, like labor leaders and grassroots organizers.

today, leaders from top labor groups were on capitol hill meeting with lawmakers to push for an extension of the middle class tax cuts. they also want to make sure that social benefits are protected, because that's what this election was about. benefit cuts rejected on november 6th. the new poll by "the washington post" and abc news shows. all americans oppose major changes to medicare benefits, including republicans and conservatives. boehner can't win. the most important poll was on november 6th. president obama ran on raising taxes on the wealthiest americans and not hitting beneficiaries of medicare, medicaid and social security. this is his leverage. >> this shouldn't be a surprise to anybody. this was a major debate in the presidential and congressional campaigns across the country. a clear majority of americans, not just democrats but also a

lot of republicans and a lot of independents agreed we should have a balance approach to deficit reduction that doesn't hurt the economy and doesn't hurt middle class families. >> republicans spent the last four years saying that president obama doesn't understand the economy. voters said that they were wrong. now, john boehner has really worked himself into a position. he is really in an untenable position. he is going against the majority of americans here. he is willing to say, our ideology is more important than the way you think and the way the majority thinks in this country. you know what the democrats ought to do. they ought to resource his district. you no he that boehner ran unopposed. maybe if he knew that the full throat of the obama team was going to work in that district to get a great candidate and resource it and go after john boehner. maybe if he knew he might lose his job in two years, he might think different down the stretch. if you have resources and social networking, they have to use it on boehner.

he is the problem right now. get your cell phones out. should republicans cave in and pass tax cuts for the middle class? text "a" for yes or "b" for no to 622639. or go to our blog and leave a comment there. i am joined by lee saunders, the president of afsme. lou prince is with us, a small business owner from st. louis, missouri, who met with the president yesterday. great to have you with us tonight. you first, mr. saunders. what kind of reaction did you get on capitol hill today? how much enthusiasm is really there? >> there is a lot of enthusiasm from our trade union and members who lobbied on capitol hill today. they not only lobbied on the senate and house side. they lobbied democrats and republicans. our message is very clear. it was very clear on november 6th. that is tax the 2%. make sure they pay their fair share. give tax breaks to the 98% who are trying to play by the rules every single day. that includes 97% of small

business owners. we're sending that message out loud and clear. protect medicaid, medicare, social security and have the rich pay their fair share. >> why don't the democrats target john boehner? how can he run unopposed? how can he wheel all this power and be so much against the mainstream and majority of americans? why don't democrats and labor groups and everybody across the country, get together and get a great candidate to start working to get rid of this guy, who might be thinking and acting differently? >> we are going to the communities, to our communities and visiting the district offices and making our voices heard. we made a strong statement on on november 6th. we have to go to those groups to make sure they understand what that message is. we have to look at challenging some of these politicians that are standing in the way of making sense across this country and taxing those that can afford to pay them and give some tax breaks to the middle class and rebuild this country by creating good jobs all over this country.

>> mr. prince, i was struck by your comment outside the white house yesterday when you said basically raising taxes on the job creators is the wrong thing to do. i think you made a direct hit right there on the republican philosophy. to the brass tacks of your business, how does this tax deal affect you and other small businesses? >> to me, the middle class tax cut puts money in the hands of consumers. our economy is consumer driven. the more consumers that more money, the better it is for small businesses like me. this puts $2,000 to $3,000 in the hands of regular, ordinary working people who will spend it. the lower taxes on the rich just sends more money outside of our community, outside of our country to make bankers in the cayman islands happy. i am happy to see the president ask regular legislators to contact their legislators. >> do you think the president is trying to make this thing

happen? >> i really got the feeling that they understood the stakes here. while they really wanted to hear from us, what they heard from the dozen small business people in the room who represented about 150,000 in our various progressive small business organizations was don't raise taxes on the middle class, tax the rich more. there were even calls in that room for higher minimum wages. clearly, no one wants to cut out the safety net that working people are promised for their lives of diligence, using their brains and brawn to build our country. >> mr. prince, republicans claim that the president's plan is bad for small business. why do you think they are wrong? >> let me tell you. the president's plans so far

have helped my business. from 2008 to 2011, things were very flat. sales were flat or even down. as the stimulus started to kick in, we started seeing month to month, every month sense late 2010, our sales go up. it is consumers having more can have dense, having more money. obama care was huge. i provide health insurance for all my employees. the aca is underwriting small businesses doing that helped me absorb a huge increase because i have a couple of folks who work for me who are going through some illness problems. >> lee saunders, your members of afscme, will be financially hurt if we go over the fiscal cliff. can you absorb this for a while? how important is it to get it done now? >> it is extremely important. we have to stick to what we believe in. the president has to use his bully pulpit and say the things

necessary to move this agenda. he is saying that the middle class needs relief. the top 2% that are controlling wealth in this country need to pay their fair share and a little bit more, help and support the middle class. that's what we are going to continue to stand for. that's what we are mobilizing around all across this country. we are going to continue to do so. >> lee saunders, president of afscme, and lou smith, great to have you both with us. thanks so much. answer tonight's question. share your thoughts on twitter, "the ed show" and on facebook. sg. >> coming up, grover norquist is seeing his hold on the republican party slip away and for good reason. congressman, steve israel, joins me for the discussion next. [ male announcer ] we all make bad decisions.

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coming up, senator susan collins joins the smear campaign against ambassador, susan rice,

questioning the ambassador's knowledge of embassy attacks back in 1998? we will have the details. mitt romney finally gets a chance to head over to the white house. we will have the details of his upcoming lunch with the president. share your thoughts with us on facebook and on twitter using

welcome back to "the ed show." one good thing is coming out of the fiscal cliff mess, the demise of grover norquist and his anti-tax pledge. he is a conservative industry in washington. he has managed to intimidate people with a certain degree of power but it is starting to unravel. former senator, alan simpson, may be wrong on many things but he has nailed grover norquist. >> he was gathering up those

signatures back in the '80s and early '90s when inflation was zip, when unemployment was zip and anybody who would sign anything before they come to congress and hear the debate and participate in it hopefully. why would you do that? it is like selling your soul. let me tell you. he is becoming irrelevant. you can see it in his eyes. he knows the game is up, because good people of good faith have decided instead of being republicans or democrats, they are americans. >> according to norquist, republicans only need to worry if they violate the pledge. >> it is possible if the republicans lose in such a way that they have their fingerprints on the murder weapon then you have a problem. >> murder weapon. norquist also takes cheap shots in defending his anti-tax pledge. >> two things. the pledge is not for life but everybody that signs the pledge, including peter king, who tried to weasel out of it, shame on

him in the new york sunset today. i hope his wife understands that commitments last a little longer than two years. the commitment for the pledge as peter king well knows when he signed it is that as long as you are in congress, you will reign in spending and reform government, not raise taxes. >> they are just going right back at one another aren't they, boom, boom. these are republicans, all of the sudden just at each other's throats. republican congressman, peter king, responded. >> the fact he brought my wife into it. i don't think he has ever met me, certainly never met my wife. he better hope he doesn't. she will knock his head off. >> king also explained why norquist is wrong on substance. >> i did sign a pledge back in 1996, during the whole conflict with the clinton administration over the government shutdown.

i was totally opposed to any tax increases at that time. but to say that a pledge on an issue like taxes would last for a lifetime is ridiculous. ronald reagan raised taxes a number of times because that's what he had to do to close the deal. >> when norquist started his anti-tax pledge, the deficit was $220 billion. now, it tops $1 trillion. this is a turning point for the gop or at least it could be. the other thing you need to know about is the money trail. in 2010, 66% of funding for americans for tax reform, norquist's group, came from two billionaire groups, according to an investigation by the nation magazine, karl rove's group, crossroads gps, gave $4 million. the center to protect patients rights, one of the front groups for the koch brothers, gave over $4 million. congressman, good to have you with us. that tells you all you need to know. norquist group is simply another front for millionaires and

billionaires that don't want to see their taxes go up at all under any circumstances. republicans who sign the pledge and stick with it are signing away any shred of principle that they have, all for the sake of protecting the rich. what are your thoughts on this and is this the beginning of the end for grover norquist of sorts? >> well, ed, i think as a result of the recent election where a democrat was reelected president, the democrats retain control of the senate and democrats actually picked up seats in the house. there are some republicans, a few republicans that are seeing the handwriting on the wall instead of the handwriting in the pledge. they are starting to peel off of that pledge. that's a good thing. but, here is what worries me. for as long as john boehner is speaker of the house, for as long as the republicans control the majority, they are going to continue to support, protect and

defend millionaires and "k" street and special interests even if it cost the middle class more money. in five weeks, i and my democratic colleagues will stand on the floor of the house of representatives and take our oath to the constitution of the united states of america and still most republicans will take their oath to grover norquist and that's the fundamental difference between us. >> here is senator lindsey graham of south carolina on norquist. here it is. >> i agree with grover we shouldn't raise rates but i think grover is wrong when it comes to we can't cap deductions and buy down debt. i want to buy down debt and cut rates to create jobs. i will violate the pledge long story short, for the good of the country only if democrats will do entitlement reform. >> does this mean you have to put medicaid, medicare on the table to get these folks to think your way. graham isn't going far enough. congressman tom cole, another republican, is willing to see what people wants. is this starting to crack? are we seeing a trend?

>> democrats have passed the budget control act which cut spending by nearly $1 billion. with he were willing to support a compromise that would further reduce spending in exchange for revenues from the rich. we have already agreed to compromise and we agree we have to reduce debt and we have agreed to spending cuts. we will not negotiate the end to medicare. we will negotiate reforms and improvements to medicare. we will not negotiate the end of medicare. i don't know what it is with these republicans, why they are so obsessed with asking senior citizens on medicare to be the very first to sacrifice the most. we ought to be looking at other priorities first. >> congressman, we asked the question a lot about the white house holding their ground. what about boehner, what if he gives in on this issue? what do you think that does to him politically? does it enhance his position, because he could always say, well, the majority of american people want these tax cuts for the 98% or does this make him

toxic? >> i think there is a time for politics and a time for governing. we are now approaching this fiscal cliff. it is time to govern. this election was a mandate for solutions. it was a mandate for consensus and compromise. house democrats have already said we would compromise. we want to get to higher ground with the republicans. i hope that speaker boehner will also see the handwriting on the wall and enforcing discipline in his own caucus and try and meet us in a compromise that reduces spending smartly, that pays down our deficit, that protects the middle class and that grows this economy again. we can do this if he is willing to compromise. today, he said, once again, he is not willing to compromise. >> here we go, round 14 or whatever it is. congressman steve israel, great to have you with us tonight. thanks so much. the republican smear campaign against ambassador, susan rice, continues as more senators pile on. karen finney weighs in on what's the next best move then? the time is now to find out why the new push for immigration reform is making republicans

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susan rice has done a great job as our ambassador to the united nations. this decision about my successor is up to the president but i'm very happy he has the opportunity with a second term to make a decision. >> secretary of state, hillary

clinton, coming to the defense of his possible successor, u.n. ambassador susan rice. yet, the smear campaign against susan rice continues as more republicans pile on. rice had another tough day on capitol hill today. now, senate republicans are blaming rice for yet another security failure. the u.s. embassy bombings in kenya and tanzania 14 years ago. >> it troubles me so much is the benghazi attack in many ways echos the attacks of those embassies in 1998 when susan rice was head of the african region for our state department. >> senator bob corker in tennessee had a warning for the president. >> i would just ask the president to step back for a moment and realize that all of us here hold the secretary of state to a very different

standard than most cabinet members. >> while republicans say they are concerned about susan rice advancing bad intel, they didn't think twice about confirming condoleezza rice as secretary of state. susan collins, lindsey graham and john mccain all voted to confirm condoleezza rice. who would support as the next secretary of state? >> i think john kerry would be a great appointment. >> if he is nominated and confirmed, it would wave the pay for a special election. democrats aren't worried. the president is not backing down from his support for the ambassador. >> thank you so much, guys. susan rice is extraordinary. couldn't be prouder of the job she has done. [ applause ]

>> let's bring in karen finney, msnbc political analyst and former communications director for the dnc. is this a communications problem with the american people. now, it is susan collins and bob corker. they are in on the frey to smear susan rice. >> i want to take one step back on this 1998 business susan collins was talking about. if we really truly want to go there, let's remember that those attacks in 1997 were when osama bin laden came to the floor and we had a clear sense of what he was about and attempting to do. if we are going to go there, let's talk about the massive intelligence failure on 9/11. knowing you had that happening in '98, how could you miss what

happened on 9/11 which resulted in the deaths of 3,000 people. what does this signal about the republicans that they will go to seemingly endless lengths to discredit susan rice. why are they doing this? >> some people think it has to do with the senate race. think how appalling that is that they are willing to trash a person's reputation, a person of susan rice's. she has served this country honorably for a very long time. i think it makes the republicans look small and petty. this is part of the demise of john mccain. then, you have lindsey graham using this in his upcoming race for re-election. it is pretty disgusting stuff. >> it is the politics of personal destruction, no question about it. it is also distortion politics. not a whole lot of positive things for the republicans.

they are really on the defensive. they are looking for something negative to put on the president. the president has twice supported susan rice. secretary clinton did that today. you can't get any more aggressive than that. >> some recent polling shows that where as americans don't like the way benghazi was handled, they don't think they were intentionally trying to mislead the people. they are trying to say the president did want us to know how bad the threat from al qaeda was. the decision was made to modify those talking points because we didn't want the enemy to know what was going on, not because there was an attempt to mislead the american people. >> there is a report out that ambassador susan rice has a major financial stake in the

pipeline. if she is nominated, i would assume this would be a problem in her confirmation hearings. let's say she is secretary of state. wouldn't this be a conflict of interest? >> it could be. that would be a valid question in the course of if she were put forward for nomination. let's take a step back. she has complied with, it is my understanding, all of the rules and regulations to her current position. if she were to be nominated for any additional position, obviously, there again, she would follow all of the rules and regulations, not just with regard to disclosure but dealing with this as a conflict of interest if that's what they thought it was. >> nbc news reporting that chuck

hagel is being vetted for a possible post. great to have you with us. thank you. lots more coming up in the next half hour of "the ed show." let's stay with us. all of the sudden, we are the bell of the ball. we're here to say, it is time to start the dance. >> latino voters helped put president obama over the top. now, the hispanic caucus says, they want action. congressman luis gutierrez joins me next. a night at the movies for the gop with the screening of "lincoln." can a look at the greatest republican of all time help them learn a lesson? tomorrow, mr. 47% is taking a free lunch from the president. here is a tip. don't insult the president. >> they came from the local 7/11. >> bob will preview the meeting

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we are back. you are just hearing there from congressman luis gutierrez delivering a powerful message to the republicans. he says the time for immigration reform is now. overwhelming support from latino voters lifted president obama to victory on election day. this is part of the reason latinos voted democrat. the president took action after years of failed attempts at reforming immigration. in june, president obama issued a directive to end the deportation of military students and veterans. 64% of americans agreed with the policy. independents backed it more than 2-1. the hispanic pew center estimates. the president's directive affected 1.4 million people. that's only 12% of the 11 million undocumented immigrants

in the united states. today, members of the caucus spelled out their thoughts about permanent change. >> america's immigrants have every right to feel anger about how they have been treated, ignored, lied to and ridiculed. we need to set that anger aside. >> we will find out if the republicans can set aside their differences or if they will disappoint a vital and important block. i am joined tonight by congressman luis gutierrez. good to have you with us tonight. >> thanks, ed. >> your caucus laid out nine principles for immigration reform. first, i understand you want undocumented immigrants to register with the government, give fingerprints and get background checks. you also want them to learn english to get citizenship. is this in many respects, i

think some conservatives would agree with this. i want your take on this proposal. >> we want to get them right with the law. i want them to fulfill the same responsibility that you, ed, and i do as citizens of the united states of america. the only thing is, i want to guarantee them an opportunity to be able to pay taxes, to learn english, to learn about our constitution, to embrace. you just showed a clip from a swearing-in ceremony. i was there with mayor rahm emanuel. we swore in 47 new citizens. they came from every continent. this is as old as america. i can imagine when the first pilgrims arrived here and saw a boat off in the atlantic ocean, more people coming. we found this nice place wechlt have always had this fight,

struggle. in the end, every new immigrant that has come here has faced the challenge of coming to our nation. in the end, you no he what we did, ed, we embraced them. they have made our nation a stronger, more diverse place. they made us the wonderful democracy we are today. my republican friends should take a lesson from the election. what the electorate said is, stop pitting one group against another. we are ready to make ourselves safe. the only way to make ourself safe is by allowing people to come out of the shadows and register with the government and be good citizens and be good partners and be committed people. >> congressman, obviously, the economy has taken top priority. what about this? do you have assurances from the president that this is the path he is going to travel in his second term. >> i have absolutely no doubt that this administration -- >> are you going to get what you want, you think? >> i think the president is going to roll up his sleeves in an unprecedented manner for two reasons.

number one, he saw what happened on election day. he saw colorado. he saw arizona. even arizona where we may have lost. he saw the gains that we made there. in new mexico and in nevada and florida. he saw a community come forward and embrace him in his position, number one. plus, this president knows, it is the right thing to do. it is the right thing to do, to allow people to come out of the shadows. as democrats, we are going to allow everyone. one of our principles today that we made sure of. when we look at family, we look at same-sex marriage families as families too. we see those partnerships as valuable partnerships. we want a holistic approach. we are democrats. we are going to stand up for what's right and stand up for a country that is more inclusive and more respectful of everybody. >> congressman luis gutierrez, good to have you on "the ed show qud tonight. it's that time of . time for citi price rewind.

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we love hearing from our viewers. many are telling congress to reject austerity cuts and tax the rich instead. on twitter, laugh out loud gop jokes. if we only had a big election to decide if the rich should pay more taxes. ken oliver says we are on our way to following europe down the austerity toilet. the first priority should be jobs and growth instead of cutting spending. let us go over the fiscal cliff is necessary. keep sharing your thoughts with us on facebook and on twitter. one of the richest men in america is getting a free lunch at the white house. find out what mitt romney could bring to the table and the white house wants him to. we are right back.

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welcome back to "the ed show." kevin mccarthy has a movie night.

he will be hosting a screening of the movie "lincoln" steven spielberg's portrayal of the republican party's most honored president. last year during the debt ceiling debate on capitol hill, mccarthy tried to rally republicans behind john boehner's plan with this clip from the town. >> i need your help. i can't tell you what it is. you can never ask me about it later. we are going to hurt some people. >> whose car are we going to take? >> if you haven't seen the movie, two characters go to beat up a guy. mccarthy showed a clip where a thief emphasized not asking questions in a situation where people were going to get hurt. mccarthy also organized the republican screening of money ball, the brad pitt baseball movie about using math over conventional wisdom to win the game. this is the party that laughed at nate silver. this is the party that continues to argue that tax cuts for the

wealthy are the key to growing the economy despite years of evidence to the contrary. the only math that republicans like is the math that fits their version of reality. maybe it is appropriate republicans turn to the movies. they already live in a fantasy world. how is this all going to play out. i've seen the movie lincoln. what struck me about that movie was compromise. that's just something the republicans don't do. i wonder if he is serving popcorn with a whole bunch of butter on it tonight. he should. >> tonight in our survey, i asked you, should republicans cave in and pass tax cuts to the middle class? 98% of you say yes. 2% of you say no. coming up, it's the mitt romney's big day. he is getting a free lunch from the president. he is planning on moving his office into a private equity firm. democratic strategist, bob shrum, is here with reaction. stay tuned. those surprising little things she does

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is governor romney here tomorrow in some kind of cabinet level position? >> the president does not have a specific assignment in mind for the governor. >> breaking news, there is no job for mitt romney in the obama administration but mitt romney will get to full full a lifelong dream tomorrow. he is going to walk into the white house, not the way he

wanted it. president obama is keeping a promise he made on election night by having a private lunch with romney on thursday. a few weeks ago, president obama said romney could actually bring something to the table. >> i do think he did a terrific job running the olympics. that skill set applies to the federal government. >> turns out, romney doesn't have an eye on helping the country. he is helping to move on into an office at his son, tag's private equity firm. it is unclear what role he will be playing. he spenlt the last seven years running to serve his country and now he is going back to the private sector. he is not out serving the public or helping the country move forward. this just underscores everything we thought about mitt romney. all he cares about is money. good for him. romney campaign strategist, stuart stevens is complaining

about the loss. he wrote that mitt romney carried the majority of every economic group except those with less than $50,000 a year in household income. that means he carried the majority of middle class voters. stuart is pretty far off base with this claim. there are a number of ways to define the middle class. the fact is median household income currently just over $50,000. we will never forget the 47% or when romney said president obama gave out gifts to win the election and even three weeks after the election, romney's campaign continues to prove just how out of touch they really are as to why they lost. for more, let's turn to bob shrum. good to have you with us tonight. >> glad to be here. >> you bet. this meeting tomorrow, it is rather lincoln-esque of president obama to do this, to bring in someone totally opposite of him when it comes to ideology and thinking about how

to run the country. is this going to be a serious discussion or is this just a friendship lunch? >> my guess is that it is largely symbolic. it is good for democracy, the president and mitt romney, who is leaving the national stage. we won't have romney to kick around anymore. the reason he was kicked so hard is what he said afterwards when he tripled down or doubled down on that 47% comment. he can come out of the white house and make a statement. he is never going to live there. at least, he is going to get to visit. it is good for the president. he is reaching across the aisle. he is being bipartisan. it is good for democracy. it ratifies the results. it is not all that common. george bush didn't do this with john kerry in 2004. it is a grace note. >> is that ir a chance that mitt romney might contribute to this administration for the good of the country when it comes to business? he obviously made it very clear that he didn't think that president obama knew anything about business or the economy.

he was the expert. so why not help out? >> i wouldn't make him treasury secretary. you wouldn't want to have that tax plan put into effect. >> he could be in charge of building new business or something. >> look, it's -- this is a moment when american democracy functions. it's rare, as i said before, that presidents do this or that the winning candidate does this. there is the iconic picture of kennedy and nixon in 1960 when nixon went to visit the preelect. more common is what happened with franklin roosevelt who is sitting in the car with herbert hoover. he is glowering. he won't speak to roosevelt. roosevelt points up at the steel on the commerce department building and says, isn't that a remarkable superstructure. hoover keeps glowering and roosevelt decides he will wave at the crowds and the crowds are cheering. what we are going to see tomorrow is more civility than you sometimes see after these elections.

>> the president has met with ceos, the fraternal order that mitt romney subscribes to. now, he is going to meet the guy they wanted in the oval office instead of the president. it is really a collection of ideas on the part of the president right here. do you think he would take any ideas from these folks that see the world differently economically than he does. >> i think he does have a remarkable capacity to listen to other people, to hear their points of view, to take them on board and to see what he thinks. on the fundamental issues of this election, whether we stand up for the middle class or whether we have trickle-down prosperity, whether we have a politics of tolerance or a politics of exclusion, i don't think the president is going to move the aall. you read that stuart stevens piece torksd it is remarkable. he said, look, we won the whiter and wealthier people. despite voter suppression, we have long since got rid of qualifications of popularity and race for voters. >> do you have ten minutes of